The Devil's Catscratch
by Dash master 48
Summary: Related to my X-Factor story. The team investigate some bizarre murders, but when Wolfsbane is promised self-control by a demon, they are soon drawn into a bizarre battle. Rated T to be safe.


**A/N: Well, new one-shot, and it's the start of a little series AJ suggested I try and do. I love making private stories about monsters I collected from a user on DA I now can't reach called Gottemsquickfoot, so I thought I'd try and bring some of these into the public eye. I REALLY don't want to get on anyone's wick for doing this, but as I can't get at him I figured he wouldn't mind if I did some stories about them. Besides, his friend told me it was okay.**

**So these technically will count as XFI stories, only they will use my personal version of them instead of me and AJ's version. You'll see what I mean in this first one, with Siryn speaking while she was mute in the other version. But the dog-Wolfsbane references are still there. Just fair warning ahead, some of these might get weird. And some might use the later version of the team, the one which features Longshot and Shatterstar to name but two.**

**Here we go, then. I'll see you at the end of the story.**

**Disclaimer: None of the characters (except for Jenny Enny Dotz who belongs to Gottemsquickfoot) belong to me.**

It was a quiet night in Mutant Town. However, like many other nights in this quirky and crime-rampant part of Manhattan, that wouldn't be the case for long.

Bursting out the back door of an apartment on the bottom floor of a block, a man in a leather jacket was running for his life. He didn't want to get maimed by that... thing.

As he ran and ran, feeling himself starting to run out of breath, he heard growling behind him, and turned his head briefly to see a pair of red eyes glaring at him from the darkness.

"No, please!" He begged for mercy as he ran into an alleyway. "You're not forcing me to sign that! You made my girl sign it and look what happened to her!"

"In all honesty, I don't quite care." A voice purred from the monstrous, shadowed tiger like figure before the man. "You have two choices. Surrender and sign, or get mauled!"

When the man didn't respond, the figure pounced, tearing him to shreds as the screams echoed through the alleyway and into the silent night.

"That should do for tonight." The figure growled, its voice distinctly female. Turning around, she was greeted by the sight of two short figures wobbling towards her. Both appeared to be doll like cats made from china, with white glossy skin and red markings.

"Your purriness..." The first cat began. "We have heard rumours that around here exists some kind of detective agency."

"Oh?" The figure asked as her figure shifted in the shadows and she walked out into the light of the street lamp. She now resembled a tabby cat standing upright like a human, with a noticeable amount of pudge, a crimson red ball gown which was sleek and sexy on her body, a pair of devil horns on her head and a pair of red demonic wings.

"From what we have gathered, they are considered local heroes." The second cat added, the demonic cat purring with delight upon hearing the world 'heroes'.

"Do you have any more information on them?" She inquired. The first cat pulled out an ornate scroll.

"Everything we could gather about them is on this scroll." It stated. Snatching the scroll away from her servant, the demon cat giggled with glee as she opened it and skimmed through.

"With this information at my clawtips, with luck I can get a few more servants under my belt, and then, I'll be able to take this stinkheap of a town as my very own personal mansion!" She erupted into sinister laughter alongside her servants.

* * *

"'MAN MAULED TO DEATH IN ALLEY'? Another one of these?" A rather confused Jamie Madrox wondered. It was the day after the murder that had occurred the previous night, and in the office of X-Factor Investigations, said detectives were pondering this newest murder.

"How many of them have happened now?" Theresa Cassidy, also known by the codename Siryn, asked Jamie. He held up three fingers.

"One last night, one on Saturday, and the first one on Wednesday." He responded. "What's stumped me is that all these murders seem to have eerily similar bodies."

"Minus the one who lost his heart... yuck." The young and strange girl Layla Miller idly looked down to the floor.

"Anything we can do about it?" Guido Carosella, known often by the moniker of Strong Guy and one of Jamie's best friends, asked.

"This predator seems to strike at random, so how it chooses its victims I have no idea." Monet St. Croix, a powerful but bratty mutant known as M, responded.

"Don't you forget!" A rather irritated Julio Richter, a former mutant known as Rictor who lost his powers to the reality warping done by Wanda Maximoff, barked. "There's also been two reports of missing women. Could it be connected to the murders?"

"That's not a long shot!" Madrox acknowledged this.

"And both of the missing were powerless, too." Layla chimed in.

Listening to and watching this conversation silently, Rahne Sinclair, the lupine mutant known as Wolfsbane, was both annoyed and worried at the same time. On the annoyed side of things, she had been feeling under-utilised by the team, who didn't seem to want to let her break loose. On the worried side, she was afraid of just that. Breaking loose and accidentally hurting someone in her rage, or worse, killing them.

"Something the matter, furball?" Monet asked, causing Rahne to growl slightly as she glanced over at her.

"Uh... nah." Rahne swung her legs down after previously having been curled up on the office's couch. "I was listening, don't ye worry."

"We are currently debating what to do." Monet pointed over at the others, who were talking amongst themselves now. "Don't you want to solve this case or something?"

"I was just bein' worried about slashing someone t' pieces." Rahne sighed. "I've been unable to control me rage for a couple of days now."

"Don't worry." Monet reassured. "You'll hopefully be just fine."

"Rahne?" Jamie asked suddenly as the others stopped talking and he approached her. "We were thinking you could go out and examine the scene of the newest murder. With your senses, you'd be a great help for the police officers over there. We've all decided we're going to look at the body."

Pondering this for a moment, Rahne soon nodded at Jamie. "If ye want me to."

"Great, meet us outside headquarters at half past two." Madrox told Rahne as she turned into her werewolf form and left the office for the scene of the crime.

* * *

As Rahne raced through Mutant Town's streets towards the alley where the murder had occurred, a man in a dark trenchcoat with red eyes tapped his fingers against a brick wall as he watched from behind a corner.

'_She'll be in just the right place.'_ He thought with a grin before digging his hands into his pockets and racing off in her direction.

Upon reaching the scene and sliding to a halt in front of the 'Crime Scene Do Not Cross' tape, Rahne sniffed the air while waiting to be approached by an officer. As expected, she picked up the scent of dried blood, as well as dampness, and... perfume?

The more Rahne sniffed this scent, the more she seemed to like it. It smelt like exotic roses, and though she had no idea why the scent existed here just yet, she knew something that lovely could only be afforded by a rich woman.

"You must be one of those cheap detectives." A policeman stated as he came up to Rahne.

'_Oh 'ere we go with cheap again._' Rahne thought as she looked over at the crime scene. "How long have ye been here?"

"Since 9 AM." The policeman replied. "Unlike the bodies from two previous murders which were burnt to a crisp and missing a heart, this one was torn to ribbons. You should be glad you didn't see it."

"Ye know I am." Rahne folded her arms, having changed back to her normal form from her wolf one while talking to him. "Would ye be so kind as t' let me in?"

"Sure thing." The policeman let Rahne duck under the tape and led her to the scene. All the while, the trenchcoated man was watching from afar.

Looking at the chalk outline on the floor, Rahne tried hard to not be sick on it as she looked at the bloodstains and the spilt contents of what she assumed were the victim's pockets on the floor. Seeing a wallet overturned, she picked it up and found it was empty.

_'The victim musta've been robbed before his death.'_ She thought. Turning back into her wolf form to sniff the air again, she picked up the scents she had previously picked up, alongside a new one. This one was much less pleasant than the perfume. The smell of rotting flesh. '_Why would there be a fleshy smell? The body's gone.'_

"She's right over there." Rahne suddenly heard one of the policemen say. Turning around to face the tape again, once again reverting to human, she saw the trench wearing man right near the tape.

"I think he wants you." One of the policemen guarding the chalked outline pointed over at the strange man. Walking towards him, Rahne ducked back under the tape and out of the crime scene.

"Ah, Rahne Sinclair." The man spoke. Rahne was dumbfounded. This guy knew her name!

"How'd ye know that?" She quizzed. The man chuckled.

"I have my ways. Come with me, I've got something to offer you." He offered. Feeling immensely suspicious, Rahne was reluctant to follow him, but knew that she could always rip him open if he tried any funny business. Nodding at him, she followed him away from the crime scene.

"So, what's this thing ye claimed ye were gonna offer me?" Rahne asked the man as they walked in one of Mutant Town's quietest areas, close to its boundaries.

"I've heard you've been having troubles keeping your rage in check." The man began. "Knowing you were also a werewolf, I knew that someday you'd murder one of your fellow detectives, either by accident or on purpose."

"Ah-huh." Rahne responded. "How'd ye know this?"

"Like I said, I have my ways of finding information." The man replied as the two came to a stop in a gap between buildings, before pulling out a scroll from a trenchcoat pocket.

"I can give you control over your rage, and so much more. If you've ever wanted to pacify yourself, look no further than me." He smiled warmly as he unfurled the scroll to reveal it was a contract labelled 'Werewolf Restraint'.

"Ye can really do this for me?" Rahne asked, wondering if this guy was a mutant. The man's red eyes glowed bright as he nodded.

"All you need to do is sign the contract." He handed a pen to Rahne. She looked at him, the contract and at the man's strange glowing eyes. She was nervous, but hey, she'd get to control herself!

After a minute of trying to will herself to sign, Rahne gave in and signed her name at the bottom of the contract. The man looked down at the contract, with Rahne's name on the dotted line, and seemed overjoyed, bursting into laughter.

"What's the matter?" Rahne asked.

"You DID read the small print, did you?" An evil grin overtook the man's face. "Here." He shoved the contract into Rahne's hands. Quickly looking down to the bottom right above the dotted line, she squinted as she tried to make out what was written there.

"If you can't read it, the bottom line reads 'whoever signs this contract, like with all the bargains, must surrender their soul to Jenny Enny Dotz and become her servant forever and ever'." The man smiled before closing the scroll, as a shocked Rahne also looked confused.

"What?! And who's Jenny Enny Dotz?" She raised an eyebrow as the man's red eyes glowed bright.

"That would be me." He spoke, his voice changing to a feminine tone halfway through as he was surrounded by flames while his body morphed, soon changing back into her true form.

"Always a cat outsmarting a dog..." Rahne shook her head as she stared at the feline creature before her. With a gentle smile, the tabby cat, standing upright and with demonic features and a flattering ballgown, brushed her paw down Rahne's arm as the two china doll servants appeared.

"I very much hope you'll like your new arrangements." Jenny purred as she grabbed Rahne into her arms and licked the top of her head. As the wolfy mutant struggled in her grasp, she felt something leaving her body. Something which she very much needed.

A ball of light brown light escaped Rahne's body as Jenny held it in her claw, observing it as she then shoved it into the scroll and placed it in an unseen part of her body. She then released Rahne, who stumbled back and fell over, being caught by the two servants who laid her gently on the ground. Eyes devoid of soul and awareness, Rahne didn't seem to flinch as she was getting paler and paler.

The first signs that Rahne wasn't exactly going to be herself was the pale tone of her skin, as it turned a bright white and gained a glossy and smooth texture, much like a well shined china vase. A moulded tail snaked its way up her back as she simply sighed in pleasure, her mind lost in a haze of losing her soul and feeling compelled to serve Jenny.

Rahne's hands became more paw like, and a pair of china cat ears poked up from her head as that also became more like a cat's. Black, green and red markings covered her body as she shrank in size and stature until she was the exact height of the other two servants. Her legs semi-fused together, and her whole body, especially her face, seemed lifeless and finely crafted.

Standing over the transforming mutant, Jenny licked her lips as she watched the finishing touches be added. One down, six to go.

By the time Rahne's transformation was done, the only thing left that gave away it was her was her cross necklace that still hung around her neck. As soon as it was over, the new china doll hopped to her feet and bowed to Jenny.

"At your service, your purriness." She set her loyalty in stone as Jenny glanced at her with a fire literally burning in her eyes.

"Now, we go after the others." The demonic cat strolled out of the alcove, her three servants following closely behind her.

* * *

"What is holding up Rahne?" Monet tapped her foot impatiently as X-Factor waited outside headquarters for their friend, having visited the morgue and examined the newest body. It had appeared he had been torn apart by some kind of feline creature, or at least a tiger of some kind. It was strange, but it wasn't impossible for a tiger like mutant to have killed the man.

"I don't know, but if she doesn't appear soon I'm calling her." Jamie stated. As the six detectives waited outside their office, a ball of yarn tumbled down the pavement and hit Guido's foot.

"Hello..." he looked down and saw the yarn ball that had stopped by his foot. Looking up, he saw it had rolled down and left a trail of red yarn leading somewhere.

"That knitting mutant must have let her yarn go again." He mused before holding it up and signalling the others.

"A ball of wool? How'd that get down here?" Terry asked.

"Dunno, but I suggest we follow it." Rictor piped up. Guido handed the ball to Jamie and he started rolling the yarn up as the group followed it away from their headquarters. Down the street, around a corner, down another street and around another bend, until they came to the end of the yarn, in an open warehouse.

As soon as the group had walked inside, the entrance slid closed and the lights came on dimly.

"Uh, what the heck?" A confused Jamie asked as the group heard a small mewing noise. Looking right in front of them, they saw what looked like a cat made from shiny china, decorated with elaborate markings and wearing a strangely familiar necklace.

"Greetings." The cat bowed as she looked at the group with an eerily blank expression. "We are grateful you could make it."

"Okay, this is weird and all, but what are you, and who's this 'we' you're talking about?" Jamie bent down to the cat's level. She mewed and giggled.

"Oh, I'm a friend." She admitted.

"Wait..." Jamie stood back up and pieced this together. She was a friend, Rahne was missing, and she was wearing Rahne's necklace...

Turning back around to face the cat, he glared down at her. "Wolfsbane, is that really you?"

"Was would be more appropriate. Now to get down to business. Will you please put your hands together for the underworld's favourite devil kitten, Jenny Enny Dotz!"

Behind the cat, a large wall of flames that almost torched the celling of the warehouse burst up. As the team shielded their eyes, the wall of fire died down and Jenny strolled towards the group, shaking her body in a seductive fashion.

"Well, well, well, look what my yarn dragged in." She taunted, coming ever so closer to the team. "I see you've already become reacquainted with your friend."

"Yeah, and we're not liking any of it!" Rictor folded his arms. Jenny simply smiled and looked over the former earthshaker.

"You look so very lovely." She brushed a paw through his hair, making him wince as he batted it away. Briefly clenching the paw he hit, Jenny then left his side and went back in front of the team, joined by Rahne and the other two cat servants.

"In case you haven't already connected the dots yet, I was behind those three murders. No silly mutant business, just me and my little kitties." She petted her servants as they mewed in pleasure.

"But why?" Monet glared at Jenny and folded her arms. Jenny smiled deviously.

"I'm a cat who wants all the cream, you see. So I decided that if I was going to take over this puny place you mutants call Mutant Town (such an on the nose name), I needed to start bargaining. The first man I met didn't want to be my demonic husband, so I burnt him to a crisp. Then I managed to get the wives of two other mutants to sign contracts that would give them their powers back...or so they thought! Then I took care of those two." Jenny explained.

"Those men were depowered as well, so they couldn't fight back!" Jamie snapped his fingers. "You sneaky mutant cat thing, you!"

Jenny frowned. "I'm no mutant. I much prefer the title of demon." She then pulled out six scrolls and pens. "And now for the main reason I lured you all here. Me and my servants managed to procure some information on you all from a place on Graymalkin Lane."

'_How'd they even break into Xavier's?!_' Jamie thought as Jenny walked close to him.

"As you're the leader of the pack, you get to go first." She purred. "You're literally a man of many. You have dupes as they are so eloquently called scattered throughout the country and possibly even the world. And you absorb them to gain their memories and knowledge. Wouldn't it be great if you could get them all back all at once?"

"Uh..." Jamie looked up at Jenny. "Usually, I go and collect them in myself..."

"Yeah, but that's time consuming. Besides, if you sign, you'll get all your remaining dupes back in you at once." The contract was unfurled and placed into his hands, titled 'Dupe Recollection'.

"Give me a minute to think." Jamie said. Jenny nodded, and walked over to Terry.

"And you. You're the daughter of a green clovered sonic yelling mutant called Banshee, yes?" She inquired. Theresa nodded. "Well, as you probably know, some whiny manchild I don't care for killed him a couple of months ago. But, should you choose to sign..."

The contract unfurled in Terry's hands, revealing the title; 'Banshee Returns'.

"...you get your dear old daddy back! What do you say?" Jenny looked excitedly at Terry, who seemed to be overjoyed at the idea, but still a tiny bit suspicious.

"I...I... I can't..." A happy tear fell from her eye.

"Make your choice!" Jenny then walked on, encountering Guido next.

"As for you, big guy, I hear you used to whizz around space as a bodyguard for a universe famous singer! Lila Cherney, I think she calls herself." She unfurled Guido's contract, which had the title of 'Reunite with Lila'. "I'm sure you'd like to see her again, would you?"

"Though I haven't seen her in a while..." Guido looked at his contract and pondered wether to sign, as Jenny moved on to Monet.

"And here we come to Miss Croix. If my information is correct, and it no doubt is, then you have a nasty brother called Marius who became a mutant vampire known as Emplate. He was one bad egg if I'm right. So..."

Monet's contract was titled 'Redeem Marius'.

"If you want him to be a goodie again, then sign." Jenny then walked up to Layla.

"Layla Miller... you know stuff. Well, there's one thing you don't exactly know. Yet. You can't say what it could be to me, because you might expire, but you can sign to know it!"

Layla's contract was titled 'Know Your Secret'. As she let it fall out of her hands and onto the floor, Jenny walked over to the last member of XFI who didn't have a contract yet.

"And last but definitely not least, we've got poor old Rictor." Jenny patted him on the head. "Once, you were literally able to make the Earth tremble before you. But after a witch covered in so much red I almost mistook her for a fellow demon said something nasty about your kind, you became just an average guy. Of course, if you sign, that won't be the case anymore."

Rictor lightly gasped when he saw the title of his contract. 'Regain Powers'. Gripping his pen tight, he stared at the dotted line. This was so tempting... but at the same time, this whole situation just reeked of malicious intent.

"So, who wants what?" Jenny asked as she stepped back to her servants, leaving the detectives to examine their contracts. "Hurry up, we don't have all day."

After about three minutes of silence, Jamie spoke up. "I don't know about any of you, but isn't it a bit strange that she's suddenly given us these contracts, promising us our greatest desires, and she's smiling like a madwoman?"

"Sorry, Jamie." Terry shook her head and turned her contract around. "But ye should've brought that up earlier." She had signed.

"I'm sorry as well." Monet showed Jamie her contract, which she had also signed. They then went up to Jenny and handed the contracts in, making her mew in delight.

"Wonderful! Now, if you two know anything about signing contracts..." She drew both into her arms tightly. Dropping their contracts, the other four members of the group looked at this scene in shock.

"Let me go detective on this again." Jamie put hand to chin. "Rahne's missing, you claim to give us our desires, so..." His eyes widened. Rahne signed as well. And if she was any indication...

"I knew you'd figure it out!" Jenny clapped before returning her attention to the girls trapped in her arms. Muffling Siryn with one paw, she licked her on the head, followed by Monet. Almost instantly, two glowing orbs, one soft green and one maroon, emerged from their heads and were inserted into the contracts and hidden away as they slumped back, both devoid of their souls.

"YOU DEMONIC BAIT-AND-SWITCHER!" Guido screamed as he pounded his fists together and Jamie smacked himself four times to generate four dupes. Jenny gently placed the soulless Monet and Terry on the floor with her servants, as she cracked her knuckles.

"Bring it on, but I'm warning you, I play with fire!" She hissed as she generated a fiery wall in front of Guido as he charged at her. Getting slightly burned, Guido stopped dead in his tracks, picked up a Madrox dupe and hurled him at Jenny. A fiery arrow homed in on the dupe, but the other three dupes smacked him out of the air just in time.

All the while, Rictor and Layla had gone over to Terry and Monet, whose bodies had already begun to change in much similar fashion to Rahne's, with all green marks and all brown marks emerging on their porcelain bodies. Layla looked over at Rahne, who mewed protectively and stood between the two transforming girls.

"Will we be able to save them?' Layla whispered nervously.

"I damn hope so.' Rictor replied, before he looked back at the battle going on behind them. A small field of heat was causing Jamie Prime to sweat profusely as Guido was dodging flames that popped up in random places while Jenny sprinted from place to place inside the warehouse, and Jamie's dupes were trying to round her off.

"Stop it... Jenny..." Jamie Prime panted as she slid to a halt near Rictor, Layla and her servants. As the now fully transformed into china cat dolls Monet and Terry stood up and bowed to their mistress, she approached Rictor.

"I wasn't lying earlier, you know. I really do think you're cute. And if you won't sign your contract, I know another option for you." Jenny reached into a pocket and pulled out a black collar with red spikes. Grabbing Rictor by his neck and reining him into her, she clipped the collar around his neck.

"What's that gonna do to him?" Guido inquired. Jenny simply giggled and stepped backwards. As Rictor tugged at his collar, he growled in a feline fashion. He didn't quite know why, but his stress levels were rising by the second. And he was starting to feel bound to Jenny.

"Rictor!" Layla grabbed onto Rictor's arm, but he simply swatted her away as she fell onto her back with a yelp.

"Stay away from me." He growled as he was literally turning red. Not only that, but he was gaining more feline features, like whiskers and cat ears. Though, the cat ears were sharply pointed and slightly curled to resemble devil horns.

"Rictor! What in the blazes is happenin' to you?" Guido asked as Rictor's clothing vanished in a burst of flames, revealing not only a black leotard and boxer shorts, but also some impressive muscles. As Rictor continued to change, he grew to match Jenny's height and was looking less and less human.

All Jamie, Layla and Guido could do was watch Rictor slide further and further off the deep end, as Rictor was struggling to take control. Gripping onto his head, he roared, growled and screamed as it became all too much. As he curled up on the floor, the three were on edge. Suddenly, Rictor sprang up, snuggled close to Jenny and gave her a kiss.

"Now what have you done?!" Jamie screamed as he broke free of his heat field and reabsorbed his dupes, Layla and Guido joining him. Jenny simply giggled as she cuddled Rictor.

"Lucky humans get to become my husbands." She explained. "Your friend is now my devoted lover, and your silly friends who signed are now my servants. So that only means one thing. YOU WILL DIE!"

As a wall of fire came racing towards them, the three remaining members of X-Factor ran back down towards the exit of the warehouse. Guido punched the door open and escaped with Jamie and Layla.

"They got away." Rictor nuzzled into Jenny's neck. "But we'll get them next time."

"That we will, my pretty." Jenny said as she took his hand and they walked away with the five servants following behind.

* * *

Running as fast as they could to get back to headquarters, Jamie, Layla and Guido wasted no time getting inside. Still exhausted from being exposed to a bubble of pure heat, Jamie slumped on the couch while Layla immediately made a beeline for her computer and Guido sat down on the floor, clearly bummed out by the massive losses the team just took.

"That loser feline." He muttered, clenching his fist. "I didn't trust her one bit. I try to keep in touch with Lila regularly, how would she not know that?"

"Because she's manipulative." Jamie responded, moving to sit next to Guido. "She tried to get at us through what we desire the most. But I still wonder what made Rahne sign that demented Mephisto knockoff's contract."

"Anyone's guess, but last time I talked to her before all this happened, she told me she was tryin' to keep her 'maul people to death' impulses at bay. What if Jenny offered her that?" Guido suggested.

"That's the most viable and realistic option." Jamie nodded. Meanwhile, Layla was busy on the computer, trying to find anything she could research regarding this Jenny Enny Dotz. But nothing was coming up.

"The internet doesn't seem to know about her." Layla called to the boys from her desk.

"If the net doesn't have any information about her, then I know someone who might." Jamie stood up and walked to the phone.

"What are you doing?" Layla asked. Jamie smiled.

"I'm booking an appointment with the doctor."

* * *

Doctor Steven Strange usually never anticipated visitors to the Sanctum of the mutant kind, but always appreciated them coming along when they did. Magik, in particular. And now, he was going to welcome three more to his magical sanctuary.

"Welcome." He greeted Jamie, Layla and Guido as they arrived at the Sanctum Sanctorum. As Layla looked around in awe at the many elaborate decorations and magical objects, Jamie got down to business.

"We need your help." He stated. Pulling up chairs for the four of them once they had walked deeper into the Sanctum, Strange folded his hands.

"Tell me." He asked, with a look of both dread and intrigue. Jamie and his companions then told him everything, about the strange murders, Rahne going missing, them meeting Jenny, Terry and Monet signing her contracts and Rictor turning into her husband.

"By the Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth..." Strange gasped upon hearing the full story. "I know this Jenny Enny Dotz. She's a cat like demon who thought she could seduce and cheat her way to the top of the hell ladder. However, many other demons in hell exiled her to the human world as a regular cat, because she did nothing but manipulate and trick others into exchanging free will for what was promised as their greatest desires. As a normal cat, she lived around New York until the last time a hell portal opened, which was last week. I happened to see her transform back into her normal traitorous self after she was exposed to energy from the portal. She must've made her way to Mutant Town after that."

"Is there anything we can do to stop her and save the rest of our team?" Layla asked. Strange floated off, and came back a short few minutes later with a book in his hands. After flipping through the pages, he looked up at the detectives.

"Her vulnerability is holy magic. Though that is immensely hard to master, there is another solution." He flew off again, and returned after five minutes with a series of glass vials.

"This is water I had infused with holy magic just in case I have to deal with anyone who was vulnerable to it. Jenny's fire throwing makes her one such demon, and though it's uncertain this water can potentially negate the other powers she has, like her contracts. Speaking of those, by taking those contracts which were signed off of her, then you'll give her victims their old minds back, but they will not return to their original forms or regain their stolen souls unless Jenny is destroyed or sent back to the underworld." Strange explained, before Jamie, Guido and Layla took a couple of vials each.

"How do we use these, exactly?" Layla inquired, inspecting her vial. Strange chuckled.

"To negate her fire attacks, throw it on the flames. You can't throw it on her servants or husbands, though. It severely hurts them, and too much could kill them outright." He warned. "This should be your fight, however I must be present to deal with Jenny in the end. So I'll be watching you until needed, then I'll appear."

Jamie nodded and stashed his vials, going over what he had been told in his head, as Guido and Layla did the same thing.

"We're ready." Madrox told Strange. The wizard nodded and the trio were teleported away, determined to stop this feline demon and save Rahne, Monet, Terry and Rictor.

* * *

Teleported outside an apartment within a block of luxury ones near the centre of Mutant Town, Jamie peered through the keyhole to see if he could spot anything. He saw the china dolls cleaning and patrolling the red and gold colour schemed lounge and kitchen.

"Alright, the plan is...' Jamie created six dupes. "These guys will take care of her servants for us, then Guido, you are to take care of Rictor. Me and Layla will take on Jenny ourselves, me mostly doing the fighting bit while Layla steals the contracts.' The group nodded in response, before one dupe spoke up.

"Does that mean we get to smash the servants?' He asked. Jamie Prime shook his head and adsorbed the dupe.

"We've gotta take care of them, for they are our friends, and innocent depowered mutants.' He sighed, before signalling Guido to punch open the door. The china dolls' gazes immediately turned to the dupes that poured in, as they pounced at each other, fighting more like cats than regular people with lots of careful rolling and tackling.

"And now for the happy couple." Jamie Prime charged into the bedroom, backed by Layla and Guido. There, they saw Jenny, who had shapeshifted into a cute white furred cat in a white sundress snuggling up to Rictor.

"So, you've finally caught up to this kitty." She sat up. "You aren't going to last that long, I can promise you that much!"

"That's what you think!" Jamie Prime yelled. "We'll get our friends back, just you wait and see!"

"Sweetie, take care of them.' Jenny whispered to Rictor. He nodded and leapt off the bed, dressed in a tuxedo and growling at the trio.

"Come to papa, big cat!" Guido threw himself at Rictor while Jenny shapeshifted back to her regular form, burst onto the balcony and used her wings to propel herself up onto the roof of the block, Jamie and Layla secretly hitching a ride on her feet.

Guido grunted as Rictor headbutted him, before he threw a punch and swung Rictor around before throwing him into the bed. Furious, he sat up and breathed a stream of fire at Guido, who jumped back in surprise. Tempted to use one of his vials, but not wanting to hurt or kill Rictor, Guido leapt onto the bed and started tickling Rictor on the tummy. Letting out a mixture of mewing and soft purring, Rictor seemed to be enjoying it.

"Good kitty!" Guido laughed and continued to tickle Rictor, as on the roof, Jamie and Layla were battling Jenny. As flames sprouted up all over the battlefield, Jamie kept on his feet as he taunted Jenny, throwing the contents of one of his vials at a wall of fire which caused it to dissipate into harmless mist.

"I can give you a chance to sign your contract again, if you so wish." Jenny offered, but Jamie frowned.

"You won't give me what I want after all. You just twist it to your side for your own benefit." He accused. Jenny hissed and sent a series of flame bullets at him, which he took care of with another vial, while Layla attempted to get close enough to look for the scrolls.

Soon managing to grab onto Jenny's dress, Layla climbed up the side of the dress and rooted around, soon finding a secret pocket. Reaching into the pocket, she found five scrolls. Smiling to herself, she gave a thumbs up at Jamie before jumping off back onto the roof, carrying all five scrolls. Jenny saw this and screamed in rage, firing flames at her, but she extinguished them with a vial.

In the lounge area of the apartment, the dupes had tied up the china dolls when they briefly fell unconscious. When they came to again, they looked at each other in confusion and shock.

"I'm... a cat..." Rahne looked herself over. "A porcelain cat."

"Makes a change from being a dog!" One of the dupes chuckled, before Rahne hissed at him in annoyance.

"I do hope we will get changed back soon." Monet stated. "I don't think I can stand being like this."

"You're telling me!" One of the two women replied.

Back on the roof, Jamie was now directly duelling Jenny while Layla watched from a safe distance with her scrolls. As Jenny created more fire walls and fire bullets, Jamie continued to throw holy water on them until he was down to one vial.

"It all comes down to this!" Jenny rubbed her paws together in glee. "Either you succeed at beating me and your friends get their souls back, or you don't and you, your little friend over there and Strong Guy get to join my ever-expanding array of servants, and Mutant Town becomes my mansion."

"Not if I have anything to do with it." Jamie ran straight at Jenny. Though she shot a jet of fire at him, he ducked it and tossed the vial right onto Jenny. It shattered and she screamed in pain as the holy water soaked her. Jamie grinned and watched Jenny suffer as Strange appeared.

"You... scumbag of a mutant!" Jenny hissed. "I should've given you a better offer."

"No offer is good when offered from a demon from hell." Jamie winked as Strange opened a portal to the underworld below Jenny. She then fell straight into it, screaming all the way. As the portal closed, Layla ran up to and hugged Jamie tightly, the scrolls vanishing to reveal the souls of the transformed women, which made their way downstairs to restore them to normal.

"We won.' Layla whispered, out of breath.

"Yeah, we won." Jamie smiled back, before Strange teleported them downstairs again.

"Haha, stop!" A fully restored Rictor chuckled as Guido continued to tickle him, stopping as Jamie, Layla and Strange arrived.

"What happened here?" Layla asked, seeing a joyful Rictor and a smiling Guido.

"I turned Ric from one mean cat into one cute kitten." The latter replied, as Rictor got up and raced into the lounge. As the others followed, they were greeted with the sight of Rahne, Monet, Terry and the two women back to normal.

"It feels great t' have a soul again." Terry admitted as Guido patted her on the back.

"Trust me, losing your soul probably felt rough. I know I don't want to go through it." He told her, as Rahne and Rictor embraced and Monet was helped up by Jamie while he absorbed his dupes, while Layla and Strange explained things to the two women.

"I'm so glad that you're okay." Rictor told Rahne. "That cat demon turned me into her husband, but Guido tamed me."

"I'm glad that ye're okay too." Rahne replied, as Strange teleported both women away per Layla's instructions, and X-Factor regrouped.

"Thanks a bunch." Jamie told Strange as he collected in the vials Layla and Guido still had on them.

"You are welcome." Strange smiled. "If you ever find yourself stumped against a strange creature again, feel free to drop by."

"Will make a note." Jamie nodded as the team took a moment to look out the window at the setting sun before Strange warped them back to their office.

* * *

Back at the office, after sharing stories from the wild day they'd had and resting, Rahne bravely faced the group.

"What was your contract for, exactly?" Layla asked.

"I'd been experiencing lots o' moments of Wolverine level rage, so all I could really do was sign 'er contract. But I guess I was in over me head." Rahne looked shyly at the others.

"She gave us all a contract." Jamie said. "I still dunno why it took us as long as it did to figure it out, but it's over now."

"I guess curiosity killed the cat." Rahne said as she sat back down on the couch and the detectives simply looked around silently at each other, pleased to have another case in the bag. After all, they just forced a cat back into the bag.

**A/N: So there we go then. I know it seems a little plot holey in places, but trust me, this all flooded in naturally.**

**Next one I'll do will probably be Jamie focused, like how this was sort of focused on Rahne. Untill then, see you.**


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